tip 55 care giver commo

Cancer Tip 55 – Caregiver Communications concerns. Okay we’ve talked a lot about some of this stuff in different posts. You know, tape recorders at appointments, use of blogs and caring bridge to keep people informed, and etc. One note I picked up is that caregivers have to understand how patients best communicate. All of us have different modes of communications we favor. For example I hate talking on the phone.

Okay, the social worker that ran the session stressed that people who have never been caregivers, don’t get it.  They don’t understand. I prefer t think that they CAN’T (language matters) get it. For that reason, caregivers need to be exact when non-caregivers ask to help (let them ). The communication audience for caregivers has increased so has the language requirements. They now may have the chance to talk to doctors, the entire medical team, family, friends, the always-pleasant insurance calls, and the employer. Each new constituency has its own language the caregiver may need to learn and a whole series of points of contact. Don’t forget to keep the patient involved he/she should only be playing the cancer card when it comes to cleaning the house. One other thing – try to find some poor unsuspecting schlep to be the stand-in caregiver when you’re not around (you can’t be everywhere). I had this wonderful lady down the street who took me to an appointment to drop me off and ended up getting stuck at the chemo suite for like seven hours because they had to get me a hospital room and pump me full of stuff.